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Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club
The Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, also known as the Reaper Crew, is an outlaw motorcycle club. The club was formed by John Teller and Piney Winston, two Vietnam War veterans, in 1967 in Charming, California. Six of the original nine members were war veterans. Their logo is a Grim Reaper wielding an M-16 rifle with scythe blade and holding a crystal ball. The Sons' mottos are "Fear the Reaper" and "Ride Free or Die". Their colors are blue and white. The club has 28 chapters worldwide. In North America, these are located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New England, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming in the United States, and Alberta and Manitoba in Canada. There are also a number of chapters in England, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. The series follows the club's Mother Chapter, the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original, or SAMCRO. The chapter's President is Filip "Chibs" Telford and his Vice President is Alexander "Tig" Trager. Their primary business is importing illegal weapons and selling them to drug gangs in the East Bay, along with protection runs for local businesses by protecting valuable truck shipments from hijacking. They also protect Charming from outside gangs who try to manufacture and sell drugs, mainly methamphetamine. Naturally, their main enemy is the White supremacist Nordics gang who specialize in the meth trade. The fact that the Sons of Anarchy are racially diverse also puts them at odds. They also have to deal with a rival Oakland-based motorcycle club the Mayans, who control the neighboring territory of Nevada, and another criminal racist organization the League of American Nationalists. The Sons of Anarchy also have a number of allies in the form of the True IRA, which supplies them with illegal Russian-made guns, and the One-Niners, an African American street gang to which SAMCRO sells weapons, and various affiliates in the state prison system. History Early years The club was formed in 1967 by John Teller and Piney Winston following their return from service as paratroopers during the Vietnam War. The first chapter was founded in Charming, California and originally had only nine members, the other seven being Wally Grazer, Thomas Whitney, Chico Vellenueva, Lenny 'The Pimp' Janowitz, Clarence 'Clay' Morrow, Keith McGee and Otto 'L'il Killer' Moran. Six of these were war veterans. Teller was the President up until his death in 1993, when Clay Morrow took over. Under Morrow, the club began trafficking in weapons and began to evolve along the lines of the stereotypical one percenter biker gang. However, the club was originally formed as a sort of social rebellion for men who simply wanted freedom and no longer wished to live by society's rules. They also tried to protect the people of Charming from outside gangs and drug dealers rather than exploit them. In 1991, the Mayans attempted to expand their drug-dealing operations into the San Joaquin Valley, leading to a war with SAMCRO, who retaliated by defending the territory under their control. This war ran until 1993, when the Mayans finally backed down after taking heavy casualties. In 2008 employees for the Water and Power Board working near the highway dug up three skeletons, two of which were Mayans killed by Tig in 1992 when they had tried to invade Lodi. The third skeleton was that of Lowell Harland, Sr., a mechanic at the Teller-Morrow Automotive, who was killed by Clay Morrow for being a "junkie rat". To stop the bodies from being identified, Trager, Morrow and Jax had to break into the local morgue and steal the bones. The corpses had already been identified, however, but no-one was ever convicted of the killings. Keeping Control of Charming SAMCRO rule the town of Charming with an iron fist, and, to a certain extent, have even more power than the police. For the most part, they try to protect the town from outside criminal influences, but also use violence to keep things the way they like it; sabotaging large companies' attempts to branch into the town for example. When Wayne Unser, the Chief of the Charming Police Department, announced his quickly approaching retirement due to a cancer diagnosis, the Sons of Anarchy plotted to make him stay on. He had always got on well with SAMCRO during his time in charge, and even employed them as muscle at times. However, his successor would be David Hale who is overtly suspicious of the SOA and, given the power, would almost definitely begin an investigation into the club. To warn Unser to keep David Hale off their case, the SOA hijacked one of Unser's trucks that they were supposed to protect, and threatened to hijack more. As a good will gesture, they gave the contents of the truck to the Cacuzza Crime Family as their guns were late to be delivered. Also, to distract the police from their activities, the SOA acquire two dead bodies from the local morgue and set them up in a fake shoot-out. The set-up shooting was made to look like a racist murder involving the Nordics. When the 13-year-old daughter of Local businessman Elliott Oswald was raped at a carnival, he went to Clay Morrow and asked if the club could hunt the rapist down and kill him, in exchange for money. Clay refused the money but insisted that if the rapist was caught, Oswald must carry out the punishment himself. When they discovered that the rapist was one of the carnies, and not a member of the Nords as first thought, they captured him (following a large brawl with the other carnies) and brought him to Oswald. He was handed a knife and told to castrate the carny, but couldn't bring himself to do so. Clay Morrow then carried out the punishment himself, but wearing gloves whilst doing it and keeping the knife with Oswald's fingerprints. He later used this to blackmail Oswald; he threatened to frame him for the crime as he was about to sell off much of the land around Charming to big business and housing development, which would challenge the reign of SAMCRO. Kyle Hobart, a disgraced former SAMCRO member who left Opie to be caught by the police after a bombing, returned to Charming in 2008 after being exiled years earlier. He was in town to watch his son playing with his band at a local festival, but also approached Jax Teller and asked him if the Sons wanted in on his deal selling stolen car parts. Jax accepted and invited him to the clubhouse that night. This was a set-up, however, to punish him for not having his SOA tattoo removed after being disowned by the club. At the clubhouse, they tied him up and offered him a choice of means to remove the tattoo. Tig used a blowtorch to burn off the tattoo. The Sons then dropped him off at the hospital ER. War with the Mayan-Nordic alliance In 2008, the Mayans and Nordics began an alliance in a bid to remove the Sons of Anarchy from Charming, as SAMCRO supply the Mayans' enemies with weapons and stop the Nordics from dealing drugs. The Mayans also began providing muscle for the Nords' drug pushing in exchange for 20% of their profits. The Mayans started the war off by looting and burning down the warehouse SAMCRO used to store weapons in Charming. The Sons then retaliated by riding out to the industrial storage warehouse in San Leandro where the Mayans took the guns, and doing like-wise. The raid did not go as smoothly as anticipated, however, as three Mayans and a member of the Nordics turned up while they were inside the building, and a shoot-out ensued with the Sons coming out the victors with no casualties. Almost simultaneously, the Nordics began selling methamphetamine in Charming, prompting a swift and violent response from the Sons of Anarchy; Jax and Bobby found some drug dealers at a local bar and beat them with pool cues. When the Sons of Anarchy decided to patch-over their brother club, the Devil's Tribe, Teller and Munson were sent to Indian Hills, Nevada to inform them. On the way there, the pair came across a group of Mayans on the road and were involved in a chase and then a shoot-out. When they eventually arrived at the Devil's Tribe clubhouse and informed them of the news, their President, Jury, was not pleased but eventually accepted that it was the best decision for both clubs. Clay then traveled to Indian Hills to perform the patch-over ceremony, and brought a number of Sons of Anarchy Washington members as protection in case the Mayans retaliated for the earlier incident. They did, and attacked the clubhouse with machine guns and shotguns. The Sons of Anarchy members, also heavily armed, fought back until the Mayans fled. During the fire fight, Jury and a few Mayans were wounded, but there were no deaths seemingly. The Nords leader, Ernest Darby, was soon informed of SAMCRO's weapons deal with the True IRA by rogue ATF agent Josh Kohn. At a meeting with the Mayans President Marcus Alvarez, Darby proposed killing Clay Morrow and afterwords, the Nords could take Charming and the Mayans could take over the gun business. Marcus then told his son, Esai Alvarez, to kill both Morrow and Darby. Later, when Clay and Tig Trager were making a deal with the IRA's Cameron Hayes at a bar, the Mayans attacked but were killed before they could get to Clay. They did wound Hayes, however. They simultaneously assaulted Darby's home, but also failed to kill him, shooting only some henchmen and women. SAMCRO then called in the Sons of Anarchy State Presidents and Vice-Presidents from Washington, Utah and Nevada, in a bid to wipe out the Mayans. This operation was never put into action, however, as a peace agreement was eventually made when local police chief Wayne Unser arrested Clay Morrow and Ernest Darby for questioning in response to the shootings. Clay told Unser to bring Álvarez in also, so that the three gang leaders could hold a meeting and stop any more bloodshed. Clay met with Darby first, and told him not to retaliate because it would start a war on the streets of Charming. He then met with Álvarez and the pair made a deal; the Sons of Anarchy would begin selling guns to the Mayans, and all Mayan-SOA disputes nation-wide (over turf, businesses, etc.) would end in the SOA's favour. Álvarez also gave the Sons permission to kill Esai as revenge for the attempted hit on Clay. This agreement, and the dissolution of the Mayan-Nordic partnership, marked the end of the war. War with the One-Niners After the Mayans raided SAMCRO's storage warehouse, the Sons of Anarchy were left with no guns to sell to the One-Niners, much to the annoyance of their leader Laroy Wayne. He convinced Clay Morrow and Tig Trager to set up a meeting the Mayans for an arms deal and when they left, the Niners would eliminate the Mayans and take the guns as payment. This would satisfy both gangs, as SAMCRO's enemies would be wiped out and the Niners would receive their arms shipment. However, when Clay, Tig, Jax Teller and Opie Winston met Marcus Álvarez and his crew at a warehouse in Oakland, the Niners tried to take out the Mayans and the SOA. The SOA group escaped, but a number of Mayans and Niners were killed in the shoot-out. In an unrelated matter, SAMCRO's leaders (Clay Morrow and Tig Trager, specifically) suspected Opie Winston of being an ATF informant and decided to have him killed. However, they mistakenly killed his wife, Donna Winston instead. Opie's father, Piney, was led to believe that it was the Niners who killed his daughter-in-law (rather than SAMCRO admitting that it was them), and he decided to take revenge. He travelled to a Niner bar in Oakland, took a gang member hostage and demanded to know who killed Donna. SAMCRO's leaders had him followed by Prospect Half-Sack, however, and he called Jax Teller and Chibs Telford for help. They managed to get Piney out alive, and had a talk with Laroy. He told them that it was not him or his gang who killed Donna. This came as a surprise to Jax and Chibs as they, too, had been told that it was the Niners who killed her. War with the Triads In addition to their conflicts with the Mayans, Nordics and One-Niners, SAMCRO also had a brief battle with the San Francisco-based Lin Triad in 2008. Otto 'Big Otto' Delaney and a number of other imprisoned SAMCRO members were protecting Chuck Marstein from the Triads in Stockton State Prison, as he was their accountant but stole money from them, then informed on a number of their members when he was arrested. SAMCRO also agreed to protect him on the outside when he was released, in return for information on where the Triads keep their money. They picked him up from the prison gate in a van and took him to their clubhouse. He told them that the Triads keep some money in a restaurant, and they intended to wait until the restaurant was closed until they raided it, but Chuck's frequent unconscious masturbating was unbearable for them and they decided to raid the restaurant sooner. However, just after they stole the money (and some counterfeiting plates), they discovered it was counterfeit. A group of Triads (including the boss, Henry Lin) then turned up in cars before the Sons could flee, and a shoot-out briefly ensued, with no casualties. Instead of starting a war, both gangs decided to make a deal then and there; SAMCRO handed over Chuck and the counterfeiting plates and the Triads paid them in real money. Pressure from the ATF 2008 also saw the Sons of Anarchy coming under investigation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for crimes such as inter-state arms trafficking, racketeering and murder. Initially, Josh Kohn was the only agent investigating the club, although this was only a cover for his true motives for being in Charming (he was actually stalking Tara Knowles. He was eventually murdered by Jax Teller, Tara's boyfriend, and June Stahl came to town to investigate his disappearance and take over the investigation. When Josh Kohn arrived in Charming and began his investigation, the club were forced to move their weapons cache to Indian Hills, Nevada, where their brother club the Devil's Tribe are based. To transport the guns, the Sons of Anarchy would need a truck, and Tig Trager and Juice Ortiz were tasked with stealing one from a local truck yard. This was not as simple a first assumed, however; they drugged the guard dogs with crystal meth before breaking in, thinking the drug would incapacitate the dogs. However, the meth only made the dogs more fierce, and Tig was pursued aggressively as he made his way to the truck. The weapons were eventually moved back to Charming after a new warehouse was acquired. When things quietened down with the ATF, SAMCRO began selling weapons again. Piney Winston sold some AK-47s to Nate Meineke and his right-wing Militia. This was sanctioned by the club because Meineke was an old war buddy of Piney and was "just playing soldier"). It backfired, however, when the militia used these guns to ambush a prison convoy and free one of their members, Frank Cison. A police officer and two bystanders were killed during the assault, yet again bringing a heavy law enforcement presence to town. Meineke dropped his cell phone at the scene, and his last calls had been to Teller-Morrow Automotive. When the ATF found the phone, they raided the clubhouse and arrested Clay. He was later released from custody because no incriminating evidence was found in the raid, and therefore no evidence linking SAMCRO to the guns used in the attack. As revenge for the militia bringing the ATF down on their heads and to make sure Meineke and his gang didn't "snitch" if they were apprehended by the authorities, SAMCRO decided to kill all of the militia. Piney and Opie Winston and Jax Teller pretended to sell them more weapons and ammunition. The boxes of guns were actually filled with explosives, however, and the militia carried the boxes off to their hideout. When the SOA were told by Meinke that only he and his men would be at their hideout (no civilians: family, etc.), they detonated the bombs, killing them all. Shortly before the death of Kohn, and to his frustration, June Stahl took over his investigation and was more determined to bring the club down. One of her first acts was to arrest Luann Delaney, wife of respected club member Otto, and Cherry, the girlfriend of Half-Sack. She threatened them with prison if they did not give up information on SAMCRO, and held them at the local police station. SAMCRO knew of Stahl's tactics, and plotted to break the women free from jail. Bobby Munson, Piney Winston and Tig Trager started a brawl at a local bar so that most of the town's small police force had to go to the scene to break it up. This gave Jax Teller and Opie Winston an opportunity to break into the police station, with the help of the corrupt Chief Wayne Unser, and free Cherry. Luann stayed behind because the ATF had given her a deal which would see Otto freed from prison, but she really just wanted to see Otto again. Cherry was then smuggled into Canada, along with Cameron Hayes (now wanted as a member of the True IRA), by Happy in one of Unser's trucks. On the pretense that Luann and Otto would give up information on a 1999 heist, they were allowed to meet at the prison. After this, they said goodbye and when Stahl entered the room, Otto assaulted her, only extending his prison term. The club entered Half-Sack Epps into bare-knuckle boxing competition to raise money for weapons. He was supposed to take a dive in the final, but won by knocking his opponent out. This lost the club $35,000. However, Cameron Hayes offered SAMCRO a free shipment of guns in exchange for killing Brenan Hefner, an Oakland Port Commissioner who murdered his cousin Michael McKeavey. They accepted the offer and Bobby, Jax and Opie went to Hefner's motel room where he was having sex with his mistress Eviqua Michaels. It was planned out that Bobby and Jax would keep watch while Opie made the hit, however, he froze and Bobby instead shot Hefner. Michaels went to the police and successfully identified Bobby and Opie, who were both arrested. Agent Stahl tried to leverage Opie to turn on the club by playing on his family ties as well as his debts. The ATF paid off a number of his debts so that SAMCRO would think he had turned into an informant, and he would be forced to turn on them. He was offered witness protection for himself and his family if he would inform on SAMCRO's illegal activities; otherwise, he could be imprisoned or released to be killed by the Sons as a snitch. He was released after two days and returned to Charming where Clay, after finding out about the debts being paid off, became suspicious. At the clubhouse he was given a warm welcome, but, but Clay had Tig search Opie's truck and cell phone, where he found both to be tapped with listening devices (which were planted without Opie's knowledge). Fearing that Opie had indeed turned rat, Clay secretly ordered Tig to take Opie out. During a shoot-out with the One-Niners in Oakland, Tig attempted to kill Opie during the havoc, but found himself unable to do so. Later, at a party celebrating the homecoming of Jax's son, Abel, from the hospital, Tig stole a black SUV and followed Opie's car home and shot the driver dead. However it was Opie's wife, Donna Winston, who was driving the car. Just after Tig had left to kill Opie, Clay was approached by Wayne Unser and told that Opie was in fact not an informant, and that the ATF had set him up. Clay tried to phone Tig to tell him, but he had left his phone (along with his colours) with his motorcycle. The charges against Bobby and Opie fell apart when SAMCRO stopped Eviqua Michaels from testifying. Clay blackmailed Elliott Oswald, a local businessman, into getting his friends in the US Attorney to tell him the location of Eviqua. She was being held at a safe house in San Joaquin and Chibs, Happy and Tig were sent there to kill her. After knocking out the Sheriffs and ATF agent protecting her, they tied her up and were preparing to shoot her when Jax arrived and stopped Tig at gunpoint from killing her. Jax, who had recently learned of the situation with Donna's murder, told Chibs and Happy to leave, then beat Tig up for killing Donna. Although none of SAMCRO's members were ever convicted during the ATF's investigation into the club, significant unrest was caused by it. Most notably, the decision by Clay and Tig to kill Opie and not tell any other members. Tig stole a black SUV to use during the drive-by shooting of Donna, and also used a MAC-10, which made it look like a murder by the One-Niners. When the Niners leader, Laroy, told Jax that it was not his gang who killed Donna, it became apparent that it was Clay, leading to Jax temporarily leaving the club. Activities The Sons of Anarchy participate in a number of legal and illegal activities and businesses in order to make money, such as gun-running and hijacking. They import illegal, Russian-made guns, such as AK47s, from Dungloe, Ireland through their connection to the True IRA. These weapons arrive on ships in Oakland in oil containers. They then sell these guns to other gangs in Northern California such as the One-Niners and, eventually, the Mayans. They have also sold to terrorist groups and militias. It is mentioned that the Russian Mafia also sell weapons in the area, meaning that they are a potential business opponent. Unser Shipping, a local trucking company, routinely hires the Sons to protect their shipments on the way to Mexico and other places. However, SOA have been known to occasionally hijack these trucks. Also, it has been mentioned that the Sons have participated in heists and hijackings of other businesses, with the help of a number of chapters. The Sons of Anarchy also own, or partially own, a number of legal enterprises. Teller-Morrow Automotive is owned by the club and is also where most of the Charming chapter work during the day. After helping out the Cara Cara pornographic film studio, SOA inherited part of the company and now receive part of its profits. Loan sharking is another of the Sons' businesses, as they lend money to businesses in the area. Charters SAMCRO Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original or SAMCRO is the club's Mother Chapter based in Charming, California. Its President isgay cunt who served as VP under Jax Teller before Teller's death. President preceding Teller was Clay Morrow who succeeded John "JT" Teller. The current Vice President is Tig Trager. SAMBEL Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Belfast or SAMBEL is a chapter located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1987, becoming the first official chapter in the UK. It has served as the right hand to the True IRA. Its President was Keith McGee. SAMBEL's current President is Seamus Ryan and current Vice President is Luther Barkwill. SAMDINO Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club San Bernardino or SAMDINO is a chapter located in San Bernardino, California. Its President is Les Packer. SAMTAZ Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Tucson Arizona '''or '''SAMTAZ is a chapter located in Tucson, Arizona. Its President was Armando. Indian Hills A chapter located in Indian Hills, Nevada. The chapter was formerly the Devil's Tribe Motorcycle Club. Its President was Jury White, until his death at Jax Teller's hands. Current president is Gaines and current Vice President is Mickey. Tacoma A chapter located in Tacoma, Washington. Its President is Lee. Reno A chapter located in Reno, Nevada. The president is Hench and SAMCRO patches, Montez and West were recruited from the Reno charter. Salt Lake City A chapter located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its President is Chubs. Rogue River A chapter located in Rogue River, Oregon. Charter president is Monroe. Dungloe A chapter located in Dungloe, Ireland Las Vegas A chapter located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fresno A chapter located in Fresno, California. Joliette A chapter located in Joliette, Oregon. Clubs Seen on Kohn's List In Fun Town, Josh Kohn has a list of known SoA Chapters, which in addition to SAMCRO, Tacoma, Vegas and Salt Lake City includes: *San Gabriel, California *Olympia, Washington *Tempe, Arizona *Chino Valley, Arizona *Chicago, Illinois *Rockford, Illinois *Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *Calgary and Winnipeg, Canada *Manchester and Newcastle, UK *Niagara, New York NOMADS The Nomad charter has no geographic base, and instead is welcome at any Sons of Anarchy charter. Nomad charters of many MCs are traditionally comprised of seasoned members who act as enforcers or mediators on club levels, and only answer to high-level members such as the National President or the President of an individual chapter. Its President was Quinn. Known Members